While Saturday marks the first time “American Idol” auditions have been held at the OTC Richwood Valley campus, it won’t the first time some OTC staff have been involved with the highly popular talent show.

Ryan Farmer, customer service manager of the OTC Bookstore, and Dana Mason, the college’s coordinator of public relations, have both auditioned for the Fox show. Hunter will be trying his luck again on Saturday for the FOX KRBK Idol auditions.

The winner will be guaranteed an audition in front of an “American Idol” producer in Oklahoma City July 20, along with travel expense money.

“I’ll go. I live in Nixa and I think it’s cool that ‘American Idol’ would be providing the experience for a smaller city but I’m not sure what to expect,” the 25-year-old Farmer said.

Farmer, who has appeared in several musical productions at Springfield Little Theater, was 19 when he auditioned in 2006 in Memphis. He and more than 20,000 others showed up to audition.

Mason auditioned twice: In Dallas in 2007, for season 7, and in Chicago in 2009, for season 9. Both times, she was one of about 13,000 people.

“We saw everything from the ‘serious singers,’ warming up their voices and performing for anyone who will listen, to the ones who come in costume, hoping that they’ll be good TV, even if they aren’t a good singer,” she said.

Farmer said of his experience: “You wait for hours to sing for 30 seconds of your life. It was overwhelming. It’s long hours and many, many people.”

Mason said, “It was a lot of build-up and excitement, and then the whole thing was over in about a minute.”

Organizers of Saturday’s event here aren’t sure how many will be coming to the Richwood Valley campus. Estimates range from the hundreds to more than 1,000. It could be the largest one-day crowd that’s been on the Christian County campus.

“I am very excited to host the ‘American Idol’ auditions. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the campus and the beautiful building we have at Richwood Valley,” said OTC Richwood Valley President Jeff Jochems.